Wavering Changes
by firecloak
Summary: One day, Chi is missing. When she comes back,her ears are human ears, not persocom ones.
1. Chapter 1

Sunlight beamed down on the sidewalk. Birds flew across the clear blue sky. It was a cool afternoon in Spring.

A man in his late teens walked down the sidewalk with a blonde persocom. He was one out of the many people that own a persocom,or a humanoid computer. They look,talk,and act like humans,but they're still just robots. This persocom was designed to look like a blonde girl who was around the age of 14-16. Her rubber,cat-like ears bounced up and down as she walked down the sidewalk.

Smiling and walking,the blonde persocom turned to face the young man. "Hideki!" she called out.

The young man turned towards the persocom.

"Manager was so happy today!" Her face filled with delight.

"What happened?"

"Ms. Yumi Oumura came to Manager's store today. Then they talked a lot!"

A smile spread across Hideki's face. "That's good. Mr. Ueda must've been pretty happy. Chi,did you have fun working today?"

The persocom,known as Chi,smiled. "Yes. Chi had lots of fun! Did Hideki--" Her sentence was interrupted as a frisbee came flying towards her head. It collided into her head. Chi's hand touched the back of her head. 

"Chi!" Hideki exclaimed. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?" In his mind,he wondered if Chi really could feel pain.

Chi nodded slightly. "It hurts a little."

"Hold on,let me get something--" A woman came running towards them.

"Oh dear!" the woman cried. "I'm so sorry! You're not hurt,are you?" she asked,facing Chi. Frantically her hand went through Chi's hair,feeling for a bump. Her hand touched Chi's ears. She noticed that this wasn't a girl;it was a persocom. A sigh of relief came from her mouth. "Oh,silly me. You're not a human. Of course it doesn't really hurt."

Hideki's face hardened a little. Just because she was a persocom doesn't mean she can't feel pain. Why is that woman treating her like an inanimate object?

The woman faced Hideki now. "I'm terribly sorry for this inconvenience,"she said bowing. "It wasn't done purposely. I was playing with my son and he threw the frisbee too far."

Hideki looked at her,but didn't say anything. He was still insulted by what she said earlier. "It's okay!" Chi exclaimed, practically popping out of nowhere. "It doesn't hurt anymore!"

The woman looked in surprise at the persocom. "That's good," she said in relief. "Have a good day." She picked up the frisbee and left.

Hideki turned to face Chi. "Are you sure it doesn't hurt anymore Chi?"

"Yes! Chi is sure!" 

"Chi,please be more careful next time. Make sure you dodge it if it comes flying towards you,okay?"

"Chi will try," the persocom answered. She looked at Hideki and noticed his face wasn't smiling. "Hideki," she said,"what's wrong?"

"Oh..uh..Nothing's wrong!" Hideki sputtered back. He knew he shouldn't be worrying Chi so he put up a fake smile. "See Chi?" he asked,"I'm not upset!" He pointed to his fake smile as proof. Chi looked at him,but in her mind she still knew that Hideki was upset.

As they walked home,Hideki thought about the woman and how she treated Chi. 

Hideki and Chi reached the door. Hideki opened the door with his keys. Plum was standing in front of him,and Kotoko was being pulled by her. 

"Welcome home Master!" Plum cried out. Her arms waved excitedly in the air. "You're back! You're back! Welcome back to our little shack!" Kotoko groaned. Exactly why was she stuck with a malfunctioning persocom?

Hideki went to the refrigerator and pulled out some food. He put the food in the microwave and began to heat it. Chi looked worriedly at him. She knew he was thinking about something. But what was it?

The day passed and dawn soon came. Tweets of birds filled the morning air. Hideki fumbled in his sleep. His eyes slowly opened and closed. Turning around so he could see Chi,he noticed she woke up already. This was unusual. Usually she doesn't wake up before he did. Hideki sprang out of bed,and decided to see what happened to Chi. As Hideki walked toward the kitchen,he noticed a book on the table---a cooking book. It was open to the page entitled "riceballs." From the kitchen came a sweet smell. Was Chi cooking breakfast? 

"Good morning Hideki!" said Chi vivaciously. She already dressed and even had an apron on! In her hands was a plate. Four round riceballs lied in it. "Hideki,here's your breakfast!"

Confused,Hideki sputtered out a thanks. "But Chi,why did you---"

"Hideki looked like he was hurting yesterday. So today I wanted to make breakfast for you so you could be happy. Did Chi do something wrong?" Her eyes lowered.

"No Chi! You didn't do anything wrong! Thanks. I'm sure I'll like your riceballs!" Hideki didn't realize Chi knew he was thinking about something yesterday even though she did ask him. He didn't want Chi to worry about him. "Did you make these by yourself?" he asked,indicating the riceballs,"and where'd you get the cookbook?" 

"Yes!" Chi replied,giving the plate to Hideki. "The cookbook belongs to Ms. Hibiya. I borrowed it from her. And Plum and Kotoko helped me book!"

Plum must've heard this comment. At that moment a blur ran out of the kitchen. It was Plum with Kotoko being dragged along. "Yup!" Plum cried. "We helped her make the riceballs!" She beamed with pride. Kotoko muttered what seemed to be a "why me?" under her breath.

Hideki noticed he was still in his pajamas. "Chi,I'm going to go and change. Thanks for the breakfast. Why don't you return the cookbook to Ms. Hibiya?"

"Okay!" Chi replied. She snatched the book,and left.

Hideki went into the restroom,and was getting ready. He put his clothes on. Then he sat down and started to eat. "It's pretty good," he mumbled aloud.

Plum shot up. "Master likes it!"

'Yeah,I do." Hideki was surprised. He still needed to stop his habit of talking out loud. 

Plum seized Kotoko's hand. "Kotoko! Did you hear that? Master likes it! We succeeded in making a wonderful breakfast! We are--," she ran to the top of the television,"---wonderful cooks!" 

Kotoko sighed. "I'm the one that helped her cook. You just danced and sang."

"Oh no!" Plum cried out in alarm. "Kotoko's got an attitude! Wait 'til Ms. Chi hears this!"

Suddenly Hideki stood up and looked at his watch,"Chi's been gone a long time---30 minutes." 

**To Be Continued...**

_This is the first fanfiction that I wrote! I hope you like it so far. It's not getting too mushy,right? I don't think it is. I can't stand it when fanfiction writers make a character extremely lovey-dovey when they're not supposed to be like that. It completely destroys their character. Please comment so I know what you think! Also comment if you spot a grammar/writing error!_


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

Kotoko looked up. Her voice was calm. "Perhaps it would be best if you check on her."

"Yes, " Hideki agreed. He put up the plate and began to tie his shoes. "Plum, Kotoko, watch over the house, okay?"

The two persocoms nodded their small heads.

Calmly, Hideki went to Ms. Hibiya's apartment. He rang the doorbell and waited until she opened the door. "Good morning Hideki, she said, "did Chi finish cooking?"

"She did," answered Hideki. "Didn't she return your cookbook?"

"Chi? No, she didn't come."

Hideki gasped. Where could she have gone off to? Maybe she went to work! "I'm sorry to bother you," he said quickly, "bye!" Hideki ran home, unlocked his door, and slammed it open.

Kotoko and Plum looked up at him. "Were you able to locate her?" Kotoko asked.

"No," replied Hideki, his voice shaking with worry. "Bye and take care of the house," Hideki mumbled as he went out, locking the door. Hopefully Chi wasn't kidnapped again. Then he zoomed off to Chiroru's bakery store in hopes of seeing her.

Mr. Ueda saw Hideki as he walked in, taking a seat at a nearby table. "Is Chi coming to work today?" he asked.

Hideki paled a little. This meant Chi wasn't at work either. Where else would she have gone? "Have you seen Chi today?"

"Yes, " Mr. Ueda replied. "Early in the morning, she walked by the window."

"What?" Hideki cried, alarmed, "why did Chi wander off over here? Which way was she going?"

Mr. Ueda sighed. "Calm down! You can't expect me to remember all that. Maybe she went home."

"Maybe, " Hideki mumbled as he rose from his chair. "Thanks for helping me. I'll go back home and see if you're right!"

"See ya Hideki. I hope Chi's alright!" He waved good-bye.

Hideki didn't see him wave back, for he was already running down the street. Maybe Chi was home. Maybe. After quickening his pace, he soon reached his destination.

Hideki opened the door and was immediately greeted by Plum and Kotoko. "Welcome home Master!" Plum shouted, jumping with joy. Trying to ignore Plum's loud voice, Kotoko informed, "Ms. Chi came back."

Another voice shouted: "Welcome back Hideki!" This voice was sweet and cheerful. Quick as a bullet, the persocom dashed out to see Hideki.

"Chi!" cried Hideki with relief, "where did you go?"

Chi wandered why Hideki was asking this question. And how come he looks so exhausted? "Chi returned the recipe to Ms. Hibiya, " she simply replied, "did Chi do something wrong?"

Unsatisfied with her answer, he inquired, "Why did it take so long?"

Hesitating, Chi shook her head. "Chi does not think it took long. Are you feeling alright?" Innocence and worry showed on her face. The expressions were so real.

Then, Hideki noticed something. When her head shook, more hair went in front of her face than usual. Something seemed to be missing from her head, but what? He took a step closer to her, suddenly realizing her ears weren't persocom ears – they were human ones.

"Chi!" he exclaimed. "What happened to your ears?"

"Chi?" she asked confusedly. "Is something wrong with Chi's ears?"

"Your ears," Hideki replied, pointing at them. "They look human. Touch them."

Chi reached for her ears and felt them. "They are smaller," she observed, "is this a bad thing?"

Frantically, Hideki shook his head. "No! Not at all!"

Chi smiled. "That's good. Chi's stomach feels a little funny." She pointed at her stomach.

"Chi, are you hungry? No - that can't be true. Persocoms don't even eat!" He looked up at the clock. It was 5:30 p.m. Even so, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of hard candy. "Eat this Chi, " he said, handing it to the persocom.

Chi took the wrapper off the candy, and looked at it curiously.

Hideki noticed her unusual looks at the candy, and then said, "Put it in your mouth."

Chi did as instructed. After awhile, she said, "It tastes sweet."

Bewildered, Hideki looked at her with amazed eyes. "Chi, did you turn human?"

"Chi?"

Suddenly Plum popped up with her whistle. She looked back and forth from Chi to Hideki. "Miss Chi is a human now!" she shouted with glee. "Congratulations!" she shouted again, this time violently shaking Chi's hands.

Kotoko wasn't convinced. With suspicious eyes, she glanced at Chi's new ears. "Plum, stop," commanded Kotoko.

Abruptly, Plum came to a halt and looked at Kotoko. "Kotoko, is there a problem?"

"Yes, " Kotoko replied, "there is. Chi is a persocom. It is impossible for her to just turn into a human. Something nonliving cannot just be alive. Can a toy become a cat?"

As much as he didn't want to agree, he had to. "You might be right. We'll go ask Ms. Hibiya after I eat dinner."

After awhile, Hideki finished cooking. He made sure there was enough rice for Chi. Could Chi really eat? Even though she could taste the candy, that doesn't necessarily mean she could eat. But if she can eat, doesn't that mean she's human? If that was true... "Chi!" he called out, "come here!"

Chi came to Hideki. "Hideki, is there something you want?"

"Yes. I want to see if you can eat."

"But Hideki said that persocoms do not eat."

"Well, I wasn't really sure about that..." he mumbled back, hoping Chi didn't notice the uncertainty in his voice.

"Okay."

He gave Chi the bowl of rice and chopsticks. The table was already set up, and various types of food laid there. There was a plate of vegetables, a plate of pork, and some leftovers from last night.

Chi held the chopsticks oddly, wandering what she could do with these sticks.

_That's right_, Hideki thought. He never taught her how to use chopsticks! "Chi," he called out.

Chi looked at him.

"Let me tell you how to use chopsticks. Hold them with your hands like this..." He showed her a hand position of holding chopsticks. "It's kind of like how you hold a pencil," he continued.

Chi copied Hideki's hand position around the chopsticks.

"Now," Hideki continued. "You take the rice with the chopsticks like this..." He picked up some rice from his bowl with the chopsticks to show Chi.

Chi nodded, shouting, "Chi understands!" Enthusiastically she took her chopsticks and reached across the table into the plate with the vegetables in it. The chopsticks grabbed a leaf as her arm swung across the table, dripping oil from the leaf onto Hideki's face.

After wiping some oil from his face, he looked at Chi in amazement. She really was eating. Machines don't eat, so that must mean she's not a persocom anymore? Lost in his thoughts, oblivious to the pair of eyes peeking through the window, he just smiled at Chi.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry about not updating, but I'll definitely finish this fanfiction before school starts! The next chapter will be even more interesting! Just you wait. Please send a review! 


	3. Chapter 3

**CrimsonMoon01:** You'll find out soon... It wouldn't be fun if I spoiled it for you, would it now...

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

After eating a while, Hideki decided to ask Ms. Hibiya about Chi's ears. Kotoko did make a really good point back there. Right before he could tell Chi he was leaving, a knock came from the door. Quickly he opened it and came face to face with Yumi. "Yumi, what are you doing here?"

"Hi Hideki! I was just wondering if you would like to come to the park with me tomorrow... Well, not just me; Mr. Ueda will be there too. We would like to thank you and Chi for helping us." She gave him a smile, one that said thank you—thank you for helping me with my relationship with Mr. Ueda. "Well, meet us at the City Park at 11:00 A.M., alright?"

"Sure Yumi!"

"Okay!" She cheerfully zipped off, probaly thinking of the picnic.

Stunned, Hideki finally closed the door. So many things seemed to have been happening today. Chi supposedly turning human, and a picnic tomorrow.

"Hideki?"

He turned to face a worried Chi. "What is it, Chi?"

"You were still for a long time. Are you sure nothing is wrong?" She gave him a desperate look. Hopefully he wasn't hiding anything.

"Of course not, Chi!" Hideki exclaimed. _I better not daze off so much, especially since it worries Chi,_ he told himself. Then he remembered his original intention about asking Ms. Hibiya and turned towards the persocom. "Chi, let's go to Ms. Hibiya's home. I have to ask her a few questions."

"Okay!" Smiling, she zipped off and put on her shoes.

Hideki grabbed his shoes, put them on, went out, and started to lock the door.

"Chi gets to walk with Hideki again!" she exclaimed, her face full of happiness.

Hideki smiled, and the two went to Ms. Hibiya's home, only to find the place empty. He sighed, muttering, "Oh, that was a waste of time. I guess we have to come back tomorrow." Right before he could leave, from the door came a sound.

_Tap!_

The curtains waved a bit, revealing a face, a frowning one. Blonde hair blew over the face, hiding the rest of the features. Then in a second, it was gone. There was no wind, and there was no face. _Who was that?_ Turning around with a confused look, he gazed at Chi. Her face, it seemed so familiar, wait—it looked like the one behind the curtain! Or maybe, what he saw was a reflection of Chi! That's what he was getting all worked up about... "I'm a complete idiot!" he cried out loud.

"Hideki is...an idiot?" Chi asked, looking at him confusedly.

"Arrgghhh," Hideki mumbled. He still needed to get used to the city. His horrible habit of thinking aloud wasn't good at all.

* * *

The next day was a Saturday, meaning Hideki didn't have class. In the morning, he gave Chi breakfast, and like the day before, she enjoyed it. Kotoko tried to figure out what happened to Chi, but with no luck. It seemed like she might actually be a human.

Before it was time for the picnic, Hideki and Chi had a little talk.

Hideki started the conversation. "Chi, I know we're going to a picnic, but right now, your ears aren't normal. They look too much like human ears, and since Yumi will also be at the picnic, it would be a bad idea for us to talk about you a lot. She was sensitive about persocoms, and even though she doesn't seem to be like that now, it would be a bad idea to remind her. Is it okay with you if you eat at home, and then wear a hat at the picnic, Chi?"

"Chi's ears are not normal?"

"Well, they look different now, but don't worry. We'll get that fixed soon." _I hope._ "Okay. Chi will do as Hideki asks." As long as it was important to him, and made him happy, she was fine with whatever she had to do.

Because of lack of time, Hideki quickly fixed her some Ramen noodles to eat. He remembered when she first came here, she had twirled her finger in a ramen noodle cup, and splashed some of it in her face. Back then she was a persocom, and couldn't eat it. But now—she could eat. But did that really mean she was human?

After Chi finished eating, Hideki started to dig in one of the bags Ms. Hibiya gave him. There should've been a hat in one of those bags; he was sure he saw one before. He kept digging through that bag, but stopped as he noticed someone else was also digging through bags with him. Lifting his head, he saw Chi's ivory-colored hair.

"Chi? Why are you digging through bags?"

The persocom paused for a moment, then turned her head towards him. "Because Chi wants to help Hideki!" Pausing again, she pulled something out from her bag. "Are you looking for a hat?"

Turning towards her, he nodded. It seemed like she beat him to finding it.

* * *

Soon, it was time for the picnic and all four of them went off this time. Plum was extremely excited, but Kotoko's face seemed to be a bit dull.

* * *

Hideki turned towards Chi as he gave her instructions. "Look Chi, you must wear this hat at the picnic. Don't take it off, okay?"

Unsure of his motive, she did as she was asked. The question she would ask could wait until later.

The two went off to join Yumi and Mr. Ueda on the grass. They sat down, and Yumi cheerfully greeted them. She opened the basket to reveal some sweets, which she and Mr. Ueda had made specifically for this picnic.

"So," Mr. Ueda said, starting a conversation. "How have you two been?"

"We're fine, right Chi?" Hideki's gaze turned towards Chi.

A small gust of wind blew in their direction, and Chi's hands shot up towards the hat. Hideki told her not to let it fall off, and that was what she would do.

Startled by her sudden action, Yumi asked, "Chi-san, why are you wearing a hat? We're sitting in the shade."

"Chi..." She glanced at Hideki, who was violently shaking his head, and at the same time, trying to hide his panicking gesture from Yumi and Mr. Ueda. _Hideki seems to be nervous. Maybe he doesn't want me to say 'because Hideki wanted me to' to Mr. Ueda_, she silently told herself. "—Chi...likes how this hat feels!" she happily declared.

"Okay," Yumi and Mr. Ueda said in unison, hoping their voices didn't carry a hint of confusion.

Hideki released a sigh of relief. Hopefully Yumi wouldn't ask any more questions about the hat.

Breaking the silence, Yumi shouted, "Let's all dig in!"

Since Chi was full, she didn't need to eat anything. Turning to Hideki, she asked, "Can Chi get something for a little while?"

"Sure Chi, but don't go too far away," Hideki replied.

Nodding, the blonde persocom left, following a yellow and black butterfly across the field. The way it flapped its wings was really pretty, and Chi couldn't help but be attracted to it so she kept following it.

After finishing his food, Hideki sighed. "I better go get Chi now. I'll be right back!" He waved at his friends, then went across the field in search of Chi. He told Chi not to go far, but he couldn't see any sign of her. She sure has been missing quite a lot of times lately. _I'll just search a bit further,_ he murmered to himself.

In the meantime, Plum and Kotoko were at the park, playing. Well, Plum was the only one having fun; Kotoko, however, was not enjoying this at all.

* * *

"Kotoko!" the tiny pink-haired persocom shouted. "We must have fun at this park! Let's go to the slide!"

"Plum, please," Kotoko replied, sitting on a rock. "I need to—" She was cut off as Plum stuck her head in front of Kotoko, her face only mere millimeters away from hers.

"Kotoko! Too much work and too little play is not healthy!" she said, shaking her head as if she was a mother lecturing a child. "You must HAVE FUN!" With that, she seized Kotoko, dragging her along to the slides.

Kotoko finally reasoned that talking to a crazy persocom was no use. She would need a different method if she were to complete her research.

* * *

It seemed like hours had passed instead of minutes. Even after searching through the whole park, there was no sign of her, or at least, that's what it seemed.

Cursing, he mumbled, "Where did she go again? I need to find her!"

As if in reply, a blond-haired girl walked by him, her brown eyes sober. She didn't pay any attention to Hideki. In fact, she practically ignored him.

It was Chi! He could recognize that face anywhere. Hideki quickly ran towards her, shouting, "Wait Chi!"

Several heads turned curiously towards him, and people wondered why the man was shouting so loudly despite the fact that the girl wasn't far from him, thereby should be able to hear him if he spoke with his normal voice.

* * *

**Author's Note:** _I'm totally gonna finish this fanfiction! Even if nobody reviews! I hate it when people only add on to their fanfiction if they get enough reviews... They should enjoy writing, not write so they could be recognized and all. Anyway, please review!_


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you_ **MyOhMai, chobbits lover, a fan, val, ellimary**_ and_** Lady Sonora the Black-Rose**_ for reviewing!

**Asilentdrifter: **Really? It's usually the opposite for me. I get so into reading I forget to write.

**SakuraLiTomoyoHiiragisawa: **Kero is a funny guy.

**Bleddingblakrose: **No, I'm not Nick. I didn't "steal the story," but after I wrote chapter 3, I noticed someone else made a fanfiction with Chi being more human XD too.

**AmnarJoey:** Hacked or possessed? Neither. You'll find out in this chapter though.

**Fairylore: **That's nice to hear because I was hoping no one was off character.

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

Finally reaching her, Hideki roughly grabbed her shoulders, panting. "Chi, where did you go? I told you not to wander off, remember?" 

Chi's face turned towards the man, and when Hideki saw her cold eyes, he realized it wasn't Chi.

"Hideki..." the persocom said her voice solemn.

"Chi—no, you're not Chi." Quickly glancing at her ears, he realized they were persocom ears, not human ones. "You can't be Freya, can you?"

"That's right. I'm Freya," responded the persocom, taking his hand off of her shoulder. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Wait, where's Chi? How come you're in her body and what about the ears?"

"Chi is not here right now. She ran off with that faux body. This," she pointed to her body, "is Chi's body."

"What? But then, Chi's current body is fake? How can that be?"

"No time to explain. We have to find Chi first."

"But...I've been looking for her for almost an hour! And there's no sign of her..." His voice was panicky, filled with worry.

"Calm down. She couldn't have gone far. Chi would not disobey you on purpose so she was either kidnapped or something happened to her, and she can't come back."

Hideki gasped. The thought of Chi being in danger was unpleasant. "Then, I have to find her!" With that, he ran off, this time into the woods which were near the park.

He left Freya smiling. "I'm glad Chi has such a nice guy. Hideki cares about her so much," she said to herself as she watched him fade off into the distance.

_Chi..._ he thought as he ran with all his might. _Please be safe!_ The background was like a blur to him as he ran, his legs growing more and more tired. It seemed like the woods were growing thicker and thicker by the second, making him have to duck a few times and sway to the side in order to avoid clashing into branches.

Then he saw her. A blonde perosocom lying on the grass, she was sprawled out, as if she was sleeping.

"Chi!" He cried out, running towards the persocom. He grabbed her delicate shoulders, and then gently shook her. "Chi! Can you wake up?"

"It's okay. Chi's fine," a voice said.

The teenager turned around to see Freya. "Freya, do you know what happened?" he asked as he began to lift Chi up.

"The faux body isn't working correctly. We must bring her to Ms. Hibiya. She might know what do since she used to help create persocoms."

"Faux body? What do you mean by that?"

"It will be explained later."

There was no time to argue with Chi is this condition. He had to get her back to Ms. Hibiya's home as fast as possible since that was the only way to help her.

* * *

"I'm sorry about all this trouble, Motosuwa-san. I think I know why she's like this," the long, black-haired woman explained as she brought a blanket to Chi's bed. 

Hideki had just rushed back from the park, leaving Chi in Ms. Hibiya's care while he left Plum and Kotoko at home. Now he was back at Ms. Hibiya's home, hoping for an answer about all this.

Freya sat by her sister, looking concerned.

"Really? How do you know?" Hideki questioned. It seemed like Ms. Hibiya always knew mysterious things about Chi.

"I'll explain everything to you. Why don't you take a seat?" She pointed to a chair near the table as she sat down herself.

After sitting down, Ms. Hibiya started to explain. "When I was still working at the lab where the persocom system was developed, there was an experiment we were doing. In order to make a persocom have more human-like features, we created a new body, and transferred the data on the persocom to that body."

"Oh...so Chi must be in one of those new bodies. That means there's nothing wrong then, right? But how come Freya's here?"

"No," came the sad reply. "The experiment was not a success. When the data stayed in the body for a long period of time, the body would start to function incorrectly, and eventually it would break. There were two spirits inside Chi's body: Chi's and Freya's. When Chi's spirit left, Freya's spirit took over the body."

"So Chi's going to die!" Hideki shouted desperately.

"No she won't," an unknown voice rang in the air.

"Who's there!" exclaimed Hideki. If there was a way to help Chi, he wanted to know it immediately.

_Knock! Knock!_

Everyone in the room turned to the door, but Ms. Hibiya was the only one to stand up and answer it. In front of the door was a woman with short brown hair wearing a lab coat.

Standing up, Hideki recognized her immediately. "Hey, aren't you the woman who accidentally hit Chi with a frisbee?"

The woman turned her gaze towards Hideki, then nodded. Her face was somewhat cold, unlike the sympathetic emotion her face held last time when she apologized to Chi.

Noticing the tension in the atmosphere, Ms. Hibiya cheerfully welcomed the woman. "Hello Miraru-san! Please come in. It seems like you you have already met Motosuwa-san," she said, pointing to Hideki. Her voice was full of hospitality and happiness, despite the fact that this woman might've harmed Chi, her daughter.

"Thank you Hibiya-san. You always know how to treat someone into your home," she replied as she entered the apartment, her hair bouncing up and down. Glancing at Hideki, she smiled, saying, "Hello. I'm Miraru Shiraiku."

"Nice to meet you Shiraiku-san," replied Hideki as he stood up and bowed. "If there's anything you know about Chi, please tell me!"

"Chi..." mumbled Miraru, "your persocom?"

"Yes, my persocom," he answered, not wanting to think of Chi as _just a persocom._ She was so much more than that.

"All right Motosuwa-kun. I'll tell you about her. Since Ms. Hibiya has kindly explained to you this project, I will just continue from where she left off. It's true that our last project with making persocoms have more human-like qualities was unsuccessful, but I have found the flaw. After several days of research, I was able to fix the flaw along with some of my coworkers. We added a new program to the spurious body, and now the previous flaw should not appear anymore. There may be a few times when the persocom will seem to stop working, but do not worry. That is only a result of the persocom's data adapting to the new body."

"Has this experiment been done with other persocoms before?" Hideki asked anxiously. He couldn't let Chi be a guinea pig for her experiment.

"Why, yes. We have a persocom in our house who acts as the maid. We have already operated on her and it was a success."

"Then why are you doing this to Chi? You never asked me or her if you could operate on her."

"That day when I saw your persocom walking together with you, both of you seemed so happy. Imagine the happiness you'll experience when she's like a human! It'll be like perpetual euphoria! You probaly wouldn't have let me do this to her, but I know that things will turn out all right, and she'll be more human."

But how did you do the operation without me kno—" Suddenly he realized where Chi had gone that morning. She must've gone to her lab or somewhere so she could be operated on! "Then, that morning when Chi was missing...did you take her!"

"Well, technically, I didn't take her. She came to my house," Shiraiku said, crossing her arms and nodding to herself.

"But how—"

Interrupting him, she continued to explain. "I inserted a pill into her which made her come to my place at that frisbee incident."

_So she did steal her..._ he reasoned.

"Don't worry. Like I said, for the first few days, she'll have a some down times, but just a few! The most time it would last is thirty minutes so you need not worry, Motosuwa-kun. And you should be delighted. After all, I am giving you this operation for free since you might not be able to pay for it if I were to charge you."

_How does she know I'm poor!_ Hideki shouted in his mind. Then again, maybe she was just assuming.

"Is Hideki feeling okay?" a sweet voice asked.

Everyone's head turned towards the source of the sound, Chi. She had just "woken up" and noticed the look of anguish on Hideki's face, which he unconsciously made while yelling in his head.

"Yes, Chi. I'm fine," replied Hideki, immediately erasing the strange look on his face. He was constantly worrying her by doing such things.

"That's good."

"Chi," Ms. Hibiya said, "are you feeling all right?"

"Chi feels fine," the blonde persocom replied.

"Chi," Hideki said. "An operation is being performed on you. It's going to make you be more like a human. Is that okay with you?"

"Operation?" asked Chi. "What is an 'operation'?"

"An operation is...well..." Hideki mumbled, trying to think of an explanation she could understand. "Something is being done to your body so that you can be more like a human."

"More like a human? More like Hideki?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

Chi knew that Hideki would be happier if she was more like a human. It seemed like it took him a while to accept the fact that he was in love with a persocom. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "Chi wants to be more like a human! More like Hideki!" Bouncing up and down, she gave him a hug.

"Okay," he chuckled. "So, these down times won't last long, right Miraru-san?" He turned his gaze towards the woman.

"That's right Motosuwa-san," the woman replied.

In the meantime, Chi and Freya were talking about something. Chi seemed to be worried, but Freya's facade appeared calm. It was obvious Freya was trying to calm her sister down.

"Well," Hideki said. "I guess we should leave now Chi." Turning towards Ms. Hibiya, he bowed. "Thank you so much for helping out again, Ms. Hibiya! Then he turned towards Miraru and thanked her too.

"Bye!" Hideki and Chi said in unison as they left through the door.

Silence rang through the room as they left.

"Thank goodness he left!" Miraru sighed. She was relieved he didn't seem to make a really big deal about her using Chi like that.

"Miraru-san," Freya called out.

"What is it?" the woman asked.

"If you harm my sister in any way," she said, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder. "I will not forgive you." Apparently she didn't believe this woman had fixed that flaw. "I know how you acted towards Mama in the lab." Her cold voice pierced the air like a dagger, leaving the room in an uncanny silence.

* * *

**Author's Note:**_Sorry if that took too long! Hopefully this chapter wasn't boring, and I hope that clears some things up. The next chapter will be a lot better! Look forward to it (I think I've been watching those anime previews for too long)!_


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks avid fan fic reader and animefan127 for reviewing!

**AmnarJoey** Your wish has been granted! This one is much longer _(1950 words, in fact)!_

**Rona mae Parojinog: **I hope this one's more interesting for you..._  
_

**CcSakura: **You'll find out soon enough.

**Kirara the two tail: **Your first Chobits fanfic? I hope it did make a good 1st impression with Chobits fanfics.!

**Hayley :D : **I'm really glad you enjoy it!

**TheNextSentinel:** I'll try to follow your suggestions; thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 5

* * *

**

"It's morning! Master, it's morning!" the petite persocom repeated as she started to dance on Hideki's head in attempt to wake him up.

Yawning, the young man stretched as he rose up. Yesterday was a very hectic day, and he was thankful to have a nice long rest afterwards. _I hope nothing bad happens to Chi now,_ he thought, stealing a glance at the sleeping figure.

"Rise and shine! Time to do your morning exercises with Plum!" a voice exclaimed, breaking Hideki's thoughts up, and making him jolt up in surprise to do the morning exercises.

* * *

After opening the refrigerator door, Hideki realized that it was nearly empty, which was rather unusual since he just brought groceries several days ago. He stopped to ponder this for a moment until Plum's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Oh no! We have an emergency! Master is low on food!" she shouted urgently, pointing to the nearly empty refrigerator.

Ignoring the noise in the background, Kotoko asked. "May I offer an explanation?"

"Yeah…" he replied.

"Since Chi began to eat, more food has been consumed, thus emptying your refrigerator at a faster rate."

"Oh…" he mumbled, taking in what she just said. "I guess that means I'll have to buy more food," he said, reaching for his wallet and reluctantly opening it.

"Knowing you, you probably don't have enough money…" Kotoko mumbled.

The blank look on his face after digging through his wallet confirmed her guess.

He was broke.

* * *

"Chi, let's go fishing today!" Hideki declared

happily, knowing that with the little pocket change he had, buying a decent meal would be close to impossible.

"Fishing? What is 'fishing'?" the confused persocom asked. She knew what a fish was, but what did he mean by "fishing"? Was it anything like the difference between "duck" and "ducking"? If it was like that, there was no telling what the word "fishing" could mean!

"Fishing means 'to catch fish,' so do you want to catch fish with me?" Hideki explained.

"Yes! Chi wants go fishing with Hideki!" she replied eagerly.

"Plum, Kotoko," the young man called out, "do you two want to come along?"

"YES! Of course!" Plum exclaimed vivaciously, dragging Kotoko along as she raced into a room to gather materials for the fishing trip.

* * *

"NO CHI!" shouted a desperate Hideki as he saw Chi wading into the lake, the bottom of her long dress nearly underwater. "We're not going underwater this time!"

"Chi?" the persocom said, walking slowly out of the water, her wet feet covered in seaweed. Don't they have to go underwater to catch fish? After all, the fish were underwater, and not on the land.

"Chi, come here, and I'll explain to you how to fish," Hideki said, bending down to get some bait.

"Okay."

While he was explaining to her, Plum and Kotoko sat on a rock, holding a pencil with a string attached (their version of a fishing pole). It was clearly the perfect day for fishing—the gentle breeze, the clouds covering the sun, and the cool air was the perfect combination.

"Shouldn't we use proper equipment for fishing, Plum?" asked Kotoko, who was unsure if a piece of meat attached to the bent clip would suffice as bait.

"Plum's Mega Fish-snapping gear is just as good as proper bait!" replied the pink persocom with ostentation, a bit vexed that Kotoko didn't understand the specialty of her homemade fishing gear.

"Okay, got it!" Hideki mumbled, wiping sweat from his forehead after fixing up bait on two fishing poles. It was a tiring process, and he was glad he finished. Handing the pole to Chi, he walked towards the lake with her. "We use this pole to catch fish," he said, pointing at the pole, "the bait is on the other end, so when we put that end underwater, the fish can bite it. Understand?"

"Chi understands."

"Okay, so first thing we do is we throw out the bait, like this." His body leaned back, arm reaching backwards, and then took a step forward, tossing the bait several feet across the water. "You try, Chi."

"Okay!" she replied enthusiastically, taking a step back like Hideki did. Then she flung her arm forwards, eagerly awaiting the bait to drop into the water like Hideki's.

Several seconds passed.

Finally, she and Hideki turned around to find the bait stuck in the tree.

A groan involuntarily escaped from Hideki's mouth as he looked up at the branches, searching for the bait, which had seemed to have coincidentally blended in with the red and orange leaves of the tree.

"MASTER! Plum caught a fish!" a shrill voice screamed, making Hideki groan to himself as he turned around to see a small persocom proudly holding a fish half her size (which wasn't very big).

Today was going to be a very long day.

* * *

He had found the bait, which was carefully stuck in the leaves of one of the higher branches. One glance at the tree's trunk told him he was _not _going to climb it. There was _no way_ he could climb such a thing.

After noticing Hideki staring at the tree for a while, Chi knew she had to help somehow. It was, after all, her fault it was stuck up there. "Hideki has been staring at the tree for a while. Can Chi help?"

"Huh?" Hideki mumbled as he snapped back into reality. "Thanks Chi, but I don't think there's a way you can help." It wasn't like she could climb the tree either.

"Chi knows a way. The bait is in a tall branch, and you cannot reach it by standing up, but if you lift me, then I can get it for you," she offered, taking a step closer to him.

A bit startled by the sudden solution, he nodded, saying, "Thanks Chi. You're a real lifesaver." Then he walked to her, bent down and grabbed her waist, then hoisted her up towards the bait, hoping she knew what to do.

Carefully she untangled the bait from the leaves, speeding up after hearing Hideki pant with exhaustion under her weight. Soon she was done, and told Hideki he could put her down now.

* * *

Moments passed but no fish came. Chi started wondering if she was doing anything wrong, and Hideki sighed, telling himself this was hopeless.

"Master! Plum caught another one!" a shrill shout came. Not long after, a pink persocom proudly showed the two her fresh-caught fish. Needless to say, it was just as small as her previous one.

Not getting the response she expected, Plum scolded them. "Plum needs applause! Why aren't you giving—?" Her eyes darted towards their empty bucket, then to Hideki's vexed face, which seemed like it was going to explode any second.

"Master! Why aren't you catching any fish? Plum has already caught many fish!"

She pointed at her half-filled bucket to demonstrate.

* * *

Five seconds later, Plum was squirming into Chi's shirt, shrieking, "Master's scary! Hide me!" A simple question like "Why aren't you catching any fish?" did many wonders. Who would ever think that he would end up going into one of his terrifying rants again?

* * *

It was nearly afternoon and the clouds were clearing away, making the temperature rise, creating discomfort for the already-tired teenager.

Suddenly something tugged at his bait; it was dragged underwater with great force. "I got something!" he shouted, tugging furiously at his fishing pole. Finally, after waiting several hours, he got something! It was probably big too, considering how strong it seemed.

"Does Hideki need help?" the nearby persocom asked, turning towards the struggling teen.

"No, Chi. It's okay, I got it," he said in between breaths as he thrashed about to drag the fish up.

"Hideki doesn't look so good," she said, seeing him grunt with effort, apprehension in her voice. "Are you sure you do not need help?"

"No, Chi. I'm sure," he mumbled, eyes set on dragging the prey out of the water.

BEEP! BEEP! A whistle blew, followed by the excited shouts of a certain pink persocom, and the muffled shouts of another persocom. Almost immediately after, Plum appeared energetically with a shocked Kotoko.

"WOW! This must be a big one! Pull Motosuwa-san! Remember those morning exercises now!"

Straining, Hideki grunted as he gave one final pull, making the bait fling out of the water, a turtle firmly attached to it.

No wonder it was so heavy! It wasn't a fish; it was a turtle! Hideki was astonished at his luck. This would completely pay off for all that waiting!

"All right Motosuwa-san! You almost got it!" shouted Plum, waving her hands frantically.

With all his energy, he tugged at the fishing pole in hopes of bringing the turtle in. Abruptly, the turtle released its grip on the bait (which it finished eating) and plunged downwards.

"Chi?" the blonde persocom said, dragging her fishing pole out of the water as she stood up, eyes fixed on the falling turtle which seemed to be falling towards her. Her hands stretched out, preparing to catch it.

Her dexterous hands gently caught the descending small turtle.

"Chi-san, you caught the turtle…" Kotoko mumbled, astonished that this clumsy persocom could do something so proficiently.

"Yeah Chi, congratulations!" Hideki praised.

"Chi-san did it! She caught the turtle!" Plum exclaimed, trotting up to Chi to give her a thumbs up.

"Chi did it!" the blonde persocom cried out, turning towards Hideki. "This will be our new pet, right?"

Silence followed.

"Chi," Hideki said uncertainly, pointing to the turtle, "did you think this was going to be our pet?"

"It isn't?" she asked, innocent swirling in her voice.

"Well…" He knew if he told her they were going to eat it, she might be crushed, and he didn't want that to happen. But it's not like they had enough money to keep up with a turtle either. What was he supposed to do now?

"If I may say, Motosuwa-san," Kotoko interrupted, "turtles only need to be fed twice a week, and they will eat nearly anything, so cost wouldn't be an issue."

Seemingly, the violet persocom knew what he was thinking, and what she said was a good idea. "…Chi, it's not our pet—it's a gift from me to you instead!"

"Chi?" she said, cocking her head quizzically. Hideki could be _so_ confusing sometimes.

* * *

Surprisingly, the amount of fish Plum and Kotoko caught were enough to feed them, and they enjoyed a hearty lunch. Hideki only succeeded on catching a turtle, which ended up being their pet, and Chi didn't catch anything at all (probably because the bait had been gone for a long time on her hook). The turtle ended up living in a bucket in the living room.

"Chi is finished. I will go to and wash my hands," the blonde persocom said, still getting used to the fact that she will be eating—eating like Hideki now.

"Okayhuwyup, Chi," Motosuwa mumbled, his mouth full.

"You must not talk when your mouth is full, master!" cried out Plum, fully aware of how disgusting his mouth looked when he did that.

* * *

"Chi-san," Plum yelled, knocking on the bathroom door, which was partially closed "You've been gone for a long time. Are you okay?"

When there was no response, Plum decided to take action. After all, she could be in big trouble! "I'm coming to rescue you, Chi-san!" Barging through the door, she looked at the huge persocom, resting on the sink, half her hair flowing majestically in the water, one arm dipped in water, and the other against the wall. Rapidly, water dripped from the sink, which has been left on.

"Motosuwa-san! Chi-san's in trouble!" she cried out urgently.

Gigantic footsteps thumped across the room, entering the bathroom to see the drenched persocom sleeping on the sink. His brow furrowed, voice filled with anxiety, breath shallow, he frantically reached his hand forward and desperately shook the persocom, hoping she would wake up. "CHI!" he shouted, his arm furiously shaking the persocom, "are you okay?"

Slowly her eyelids opened, and a frail voice rasped. "Y...yes, Chi is fi…fine," she replied, her hand weakly reaching up to rest on Hideki's shoulder. "Ch…Chi will be ok…ay." With that, a blue electric light seemed to surge through the persocom, and it collapsed into his arms.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**_ That was a really long chapter (1950 words), don't you think? This was more of a comic relief/filler chapter; it's an attempt at comedy… Hopefully, not a pathetic attempt, but an attempt nonetheless. Things weren't that confusing in this chapter, are they?_

_Since Hurricane Katrina came, I had no school for a week and had time to write this! With all the homework I have, I hope I can finish this one soon! Please review._


End file.
